Thursday, July 31, 2014

Plan Your Use of Joint Tenancy

By: Laurie Valentine-COO & Trust Counsel 

Many people put everything they own in joint ownership with others so that, at death, no probate court proceedings are required for the other joint owner to have full ownership and control of the assets. “Joint tenancy with rights of survivorship” titling does avoid probate as ownership passes by operation of law to the surviving joint owner, but it should be used carefully.

Your Will does not control who will own jointly-owned assets following your death. That means that even with a carefully thought out “written plan” (a Will) directing how you want what you own at death to pass, any assets in joint names will not be governed by that plan.

Another reason people put someone else’s name on their assets as joint owner is to give them access to those assets in case of incapacity of the original owner. A better plan may be to give them a power of attorney which gives them access to your assets and the ability to use them for your benefit if you become incapacitated without making them a joint owner

Putting others’ names on your assets as joint owner makes them just that…an owner with rights in those assets. That could result in those assets being subject to the claims of that other joint owner’s creditors, if he or she gets into some kind of legal or financial difficulty.

And, if the other joint owner dies first you might be taxed on receiving your own assets back from the other joint owner at their death, depending on their relationship to you.

As with all other aspects of estate stewardship, use of joint tenancy should be planned.

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1(866) 489-3533.

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

A Personal Testimony

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

In 1985, 11 years before my service as KBF president began, my wife and I established the Barry G. and Larie G. Endowment Fund with the KBF.

We established the account with a modest gift of appreciated stock and directed the KBF to reinvest the earnings until the market value of the account attained a specific target balance. Upon the attainment of the target balance, the earnings would begin to be distributed, until the Lord returns, among several Baptist causes which were near and dear to our hearts.

In addition to the initial gift, my wife and I have continued to make contributions to the fund over the years. Our gifts have been in the form of cash, appreciated stock and life insurance policies. And, we have a provision in our estate plan to contribute to it as well.

As a result of our continued contributions and the KBF’s excellent investment performance, the fund attained its target balance in 1997, and the KBF began making distributions at that time. The distributions continue to grow as the fund grows.

I am sharing this word of stewardship testimony for these reasons:

· Integrity. I would not ask you to do what I had not done already.

· Trust. We believe the KBF board and staff are steadfast and solid and will do until the Lord returns what we directed them to do, and they will do it with excellence.

· Simplicity. Most of you, like us, have more than one favorite Christian cause. The KBF can simplify the giving process by establishing one account but distributing the earnings to multiple causes.

· Joy. I wanted to share with you the joy we are experiencing (a) by seeing while we are alive how these Great Commission ministries are changing peoples’ lives in the name of Jesus Christ and (b) by having the assurance we shall be involved in these ministries as they continue to impact the world for Christ beyond our lifetimes.

Please give Laurie Valentine, our trust counsel, or me the privilege of assisting you in experiencing the joy that comes by giving to connect all people to Jesus Christ, “for God loves a cheerful giver.” Call us toll free.

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1(866) 489-3533.

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Stewardship Truths #7

A 12 part series discussing stewardship.

By: Barry G. Allen


Be honest and act with integrity in all of your dealings.

Proverbs 16:8 “Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice.”

Dishonesty is rooted in greed, and if left unchecked, greed can make us susceptible to get-rich-quick schemes, or “something-for-nothing” schemes, schemes that almost always end in poverty. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

We must not let greed cause us to be dishonest. We cannot live right and get things the wrong way. Someone has said, “it is better to grow rich slowly than to grow poor in a hurry.”

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Stewardship is More Than Fund Raising

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO 

I have the privilege of assisting people from every financial station in life; those with modest amounts of material possessions, those with vast amounts and everything in between.

I do not recall any of those for whom money did not present some kind of difficulty. For some the difficulty was in not having enough of it. Interestingly enough, an increase in quantity does not eliminate necessarily all of the difficulties. Money continues to be a difficulty even when it is plentiful. For then the challenge becomes how to preserve, invest and use it wisely. Money is an aspect of life where the struggle is universal.

Churches have a real responsibility at this point, but I am concerned churches are not fulfilling this responsibility as effectively as they should. Too often financial stewardship is relegated to institutional fund raising focusing on financing the local budget to the neglect of the broader perspective of the meaning of money in the life of a Christian.

The call to responsible stewardship is to let God, not money, be the One and Only God in our lives. It is a call to shift our priorities and to change the way we relate to money. The Bible is clear, if we ascribe to money the highest possible value for total satisfaction in life, we shall go through life dissatisfied and unfulfilled. One cannot find in money what can only be found in God. Money is the means by which we live, but not the end for which we live.

My prayer is our churches will become more intentional in teaching men, women, boys and girls how to stop worshipping money and how to start investing it for eternal gains in the lives of people through the missions and ministries of our churches and our KBC-related Great Commission service organizations. Through your church and these organizations money is transformed into ministry.

Call toll-free Laurie Valentine or me to arrange a stewardship education seminar in your church before the end of this year - (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1(866) 489-3533.

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Twelve Steps For Christian Estate Planning- Step #7

By: Laurie Valentine- COO & Trust Counsel

A Christian estate plan is one you develop by determining how God wants you to: (1) provide for your family and other “dependents” at your death and (2) have your finances managed and decisions made for you if you became incapacitated and no longer able to do those things for yourself.

Step #7 Use Trusts to Help Beneficiaries Handle Their Wealth. Leaving an inheritance outright to a young or incapacitated beneficiary is not good estate stewardship.

An outright bequest or beneficiary designation to an under age 18 beneficiary will require a guardian be appointed to manage the young beneficiary’s share until he/she reaches age 18. This is the case even if there is a parent surviving. At 18, the young beneficiary will receive full ownership and control of the outright inheritance, no matter its size.

A better alternative may be to use a “testamentary trust” as part of your plan.

A testamentary trust is a bequest in your Will to a third party designated as “trustee” to manage the young beneficiary’s share of your estate. The trustee can be authorized to use income and principal of the young beneficiary’s trust for his/her education and other needs. And, by using a testamentary trust, you can delay when a young beneficiary will get full ownership and control until an age older than 18.

Testamentary trusts may also be used to provide for an elderly or incapacitated beneficiary. The trust can direct all income (and possibly some principal) be used for the beneficiary for the rest of their life; with the remainder designated for an “ultimate beneficiary” of your choosing after the elderly or incapacitated beneficiary dies.

Next Month-Step #8- Plan for Death Taxes
  
For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1(866) 489-3533.

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Contribution Not Acquisition

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

Someone has said, “success comes not by acquisition but by contribution.” Winston Churchill said, “we make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “what good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

The scriptures teach us if we are wise, we shall pay more attention to eternal values than to the things of the world. In I Timothy 6:7 we find this, “for we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” Therefore, we ought to put godliness above everything else. In so doing we shall gain what is lasting. Everything else is temporal. Verse 9 warns us of the temptation trap into which we fall by our love of money. Sometimes those who have the least love money the most. We need to ask ourselves from time-to-time, do we have things, or do they have us? In verses 17 –19 the Apostle Paul told Timothy to charge those who were affluent not be arrogant or proud nor to put their trust in their wealth. Instead they (we) should put their (our) trust in the living God who gives us all things richly to enjoy. All things come from God and are to be enjoyed, but they are not to be worshipped.

Not only are we to trust the Lord, but also we are to be worthy of his trust. The Lord is seeking trustworthy men and women. If you are one of those, he is more likely to give you something, which you can use for his glory. Here is what Jesus said about trust, “whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”(Matt 16:10-12).

To the extent we can assist you to have success in your stewardship, please give us that privilege.

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1(866) 489-3533.

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.